Image copyright Reuters The head of a major US evangelical college has quit his job amid allegations about his private life.
The Washington Post, the Associated Press and other US media reported his resignation on Monday, citing officials from the institution.
The influential evangelical initially denied he had left the role.
But after Liberty University announced Falwell Jr had resigned and then reversed his decision, he finally confirmed he had quit his job.
Jerry Falwell Jr took an indefinite leave of absence earlier this month after posting a photo of himself with trousers unzipped on Instagram.
Further scandals have since emerged, including from someone who claimed to have had a sexual relationship involving Mr Falwell Jr and his wife.
A vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, Mr Falwell Jr took over at the college in 2007 after the death of his father, Jerry Falwell.
Mr Falwell Sr founded the university in the 1970s as well as the conservative Moral Majority movement.
What happened on Monday?
Reports that Mr Falwell Jr had resigned first appeared on Monday evening. He denied the reports, telling Politico news site they were untrue.
But just hours later, the college issued a statement saying Mr Falwell Jr had backtracked on his resignation after the media reports appeared.
“On the first day of classes of Liberty University’s fall term, Jerry Falwell Jr, agreed to resign as its President and from its Board of Directors, but following media reports about the resignation, withdrew it,” a statement from the university read.
The former businessman eventually confirmed to ABC News and the Wall Street Journal that he has resigned.
In its statement, Liberty University referenced “additional matters” that had come to light after he took a leave of absence, “that made it clear that it would not be in the best interest of the University for him to return from leave”.
The executive committee and board of the evangelical college will meet on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
What are the allegations?
Mr Falwell Jr was already under scrutiny for a photograph he posted online earlier this month. He appeared in the image with his trousers unzipped and his arm around a woman.
The image provoked outrage and charges of hypocrisy from the political right and left, and calls for Mr Falwell to resign.
Liberty University asked Mr Falwell to take an “indefinite leave of absence” soon after.
Further allegations have emerged. Giancarlo Granda, a business partner of Falwell Jr’s, told Reuters news agency on Monday that he had a six-year sexual relationship with the evangelical leader and his wife, Becki Falwell.
“Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room,” Mr Granda reportedly said in an interview.
A lawyer for Mr Falwell Jr told Reuters before their article came out that his client “categorically denies everything you indicated you intend to publish about him”.
On Sunday, Mr Falwell Jr released a statement to the Washington Examiner saying his wife had had an affair and that the man involved had threatened to “deliberately embarrass my wife, family, and Liberty University”.
He also spoke of the “emotional toll” the affair had had on him.
Before Mr Granda’s allegations and Mr Falwell Jr’s statement became public, Liberty University issued a statement on Friday saying it had not yet decided his future as president.
The college’s honour code states that “Sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman are not permissible at Liberty University”.
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